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Tausig, Carl : Toccata und Fuge für Orgel d-moll BWV 565
Work Overview
Genre:transcription
Total Playing Time:9 min 30 sec
Copyright:Public Domain
Original/Related Work: Bach, Johann Sebastian 《Toccata und Fuge 》
Commentary (1)
Author : Takasu, Hiroshi
Last Updated: January 1, 2010
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Author : Takasu, Hiroshi
This piece, one of the most beloved among the numerous organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), a master of Baroque music and the father of European music, is believed to have been composed in the early period of his Arnstadt years (1703-1717). In any case, it is a work overflowing with the intense emotions of the young Bach in his twenties, and a youthful, powerful energy and individuality that overwhelms the listener, exemplified by its free structure that incorporates a fugue within a toccata.
Carl Tausig (1841-1871) was Liszt's most important pupil, whose "brazen" fingers Liszt himself highly praised, and a legendary pianist who died at the young age of 30, despite being said to have elevated pure virtuosity to a level that Liszt himself only hinted at. As Tausig himself described this arrangement as a "free transcription for piano," brilliant pianism is boldly introduced, making it a romantic work for piano, in contrast to Busoni's neoclassical arrangement which aimed to faithfully reproduce the solemn characteristics of the original organ piece.